Stranger Things renewed for season 3. But when will it return?

It’s official: Stranger Things will return to Netflix for a third season.

Netflix announced the news Friday morning, ensuring the gang in Hawkins, Indiana, will return for at least one more sci-fi adventure. Previously, creators The Duffer Brothers suggested they plan for the show to ultimately run for four seasons “and then out.”

There were also a couple bits of news absent from the announcement: There was no indication of when the show will return, or for how many episodes. Oftentimes such details are omitted from a renewal release, so one shouldn’t make any assumptions. But when Netflix renewed Stranger Things for season 2 in August of last year, the announcement was coupled with a 2017 return date and the episode count. That both pieces of info were absent very likely means those details are still being decided (we’re told season 3 is currently being written, which means production wouldn’t likely start until spring at the earliest).

And since the second season of Stranger Things debuted in October and that was 15 months after the first season which debuted in July of 2016 … you’re seeing where we’re going with this, right? So 2019 could see a Netflix vs. HBO battle royale of Stranger Things vs. Game of Thrones. On the other hand, October was such a perfect fit for the show this year, it would be a bit surprising if Netflix pushed to 2019.

As for the number of episodes, that’s a point of curiosity as well, since the first season was eight and the second season was upped to nine (arguably, the second season’s storyline would have been stronger if tightened into seven or eight episodes). So it will be interesting to see if Stranger Things sticks to nine, or adjusts again.

Ultimately, on both the return date and episode count, Netflix will likely opt for whatever The Duffer Brothers need to make the best season possible.

So we’ll just leave you with this:

The news comes on the heels of Netflix announcing the renewal of their other fall sensation, Mindhunter, which received a season 2 pickup.